JobKeeper payments cut from today amid warnings of fewer jobs ahead

JobKeeper payments will be cut from today, despite economists forecasting fewer jobs and lower wages for years to come.

The taxpayer-funded payment will drop by $300 a fortnight to $1200.

The payments are due to be reduced again in January and is scheduled to end in March, 2021.

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The withdrawal of JobKeeper will be slow but it is expected that there will still be around 2.2 million workers on the payment by Christmas.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has argued the fund was always meant to be a temporary measure to help employees get to the other side of the pandemic.

In some cases, casual workers who were receiving the original $1500 flat rate were actually earning more during the pandemic than they were before it.

The government has recognised that so has now brought the total down to better reflect payment conditions before the virus hit the country.

From today, this "flat rate" will be reduced depending on how many hours people used to work before the pandemic hit.

For example, for someone who used to work 20 hours or more, they will receive a flat rate of $1200 a fortnight instead of $1500.

For those who used to work 20 hours or less during February 2020, they will receive a flat rate of $750 per fortnight.

The enormous cost of the JobKeeper scheme will help push the budget deep into the red.

Economist Chris Richardson from Deloitte Access Economics predicts the treasurer will announce a deficit after round $198 billion for this year when the budget is released on October 6.

But that number doesn't take into account any of the further spending or costs that might be announced by the Morrison Government in the budget.

You can  get up-to-date information from the Federal Government's Coronavirus Australia app, available on the App Store, Google Play and the Government's WhatsApp channel.

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